02 February 2014SMALL MOUNTAIN - "TET RUN"A much smaller than usual, but nevertheless enthusiastic group of Hashers helped to maintain our mantra: "VTH3 runs every Sunday including holidays, and in any weather"!The weather was no problem this week, but most of our Vietnamese fellow Hashers had understandably taken time out to enjoy the annual Lunar New Year ("Tet") holiday with families and friends - and most expats are given two weeks off work at this time of year, so many had disappeared for a break.Wounded Hasher Ronald Reagan couldn't keep entirely away from it all despite broken toes(!), and he turned up to give our hardy band some encouragement as we headed off for "uncharted waters" - a new and "interesting" trail on Small Mountain, as we were told by Hares The Gardener (formerly CNR) and SamSon.Particular thanks must go to Vietnamese Hare SamSon for not only taking the time to help set the trail midweek, despite the usual hectic lead-up to Tet, but also joining the group on Tet Day 3 - a mighty effort indeed, from a very aptly named SamSon!The trail was notable for several reasons: not least the interesting religious and historical constructs and artefacts (see photos below) and changing terrain and vegetation along the way; but also the fact that it involved not one, but essentially two ascents and descents of Small Mountain (Lighthouse Hill) - which made for a fairly long and arduous Sunday afternoon workout, with varying degrees of difficulty including a couple of very steep descents to test the "staying power" of our intrepid Hashers.Having stopped briefly to enjoy the views over Vung Tau and the East Sea from the lighthouse, everyone managed to make it down to ground level in one piece - and it was here that, in view of the smaller than usual numbers, and that it will always be a sin to bypass a nearly empty bia hoi, we opted for "the shortest distance between two points" and settled down for several coldies and a chinwag about the day's adventures.It was eventually decided in English (well Canadian and Australian, anyway), Russian, Finnish and Vietnamese that the day had been a resounding success thanks to the combined efforts of everyone involved (including Hare Raiser, Beer Meister, Ring Master and general all-round VTH3 veteran stalwart Falcon, who had 'hotfooted it' all the way back from Phan Thiet in time to make the run - despite the notorious Tet traffic!).The burgeoning Hare combo of Falcon and The Gardener (formerly known as CNR) have now set a "part old, part new but all interesting" trail on Big Mountain for Sunday 09 February - see NEXT RUNbox on the Home Page. We will meet as usual in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden: 2 pm for 2.30 pm start because, as we said at the outset - "VTH3 runs every Sunday including holidays, and in any weather"!

And on that positive note, we wish everyone "Chuc Mung Nam Moi" (Happy Lunar New Year)!